Witch County jailed lunatics Devilment are nearing completion of the follow-up to 2014's The Great And Secret Show with their as-yet untitled second album.

Tracks include: "Shine On Sophie Moone", "Life (Is What You Keep From The Reaper)", "Hitchcock Blonde", "JudasStein", "Hell At My Back" and "Plot Spoiler: There Will Be Monsters".

The band (four of their kind pictured above at rehearsal) enter the studio within the month to begin tracking the pots and pans.

Earlier this year, guitarist Colin Parks commented, "Right time to finish writing this album, everyone has worked hard on this and it shows. Head down and time for some serious graft. Can not wait to get this album to you guys, it's gonna be a belter. The chains are off on this outing, if you liked the first album... You ain't seen nothing yet!"

Devilment, fronted by Cradle Of Filth vocalist Dani Filth, released their debut album, The Great And Secret Show, in 2014 via Nuclear Blast. It spawned videos for "Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me", and "Sanity Hits A (Perfect) Zero"; both of which can be enjoyed below.

 

 



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MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine recently spoke to Loudwire about the songwriting process for the band's new album, "Dystopia". You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow.

On whether the lyrics for "Dystopia" came first, followed by the music, or the other way around:

Mustaine: "I usually write in different ways. When you look at songwriters, sometimes they'll have somebody that does the music and they'll have a collaborator that does the lyrics, like Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Elton John [comes up with] the music and Bernie [writes] the lyrics. And more often than not, the lyrics will be the last thing that happens. There's only been a couple of times where I've written the lyrics and the music at the same time. That happened on 'In My Darkest Hour' and it happened on 'Use The Man'. And unless my memory fails me, those are the only two that I remember doing [that way]. This record, I had ten songs written before I went into the studio with [drummer] Chris Adler. David Ellefson [bass] had come out to California — he still lives in Arizona — and he'd come out a couple of times to lay down some tracks while we were working, while we tried to do that 'Rust In Peace' reunion thing. He had laid down some tracks. And what we did at that point, those songs didn't even end up the same way; they're totally different. So there's no set formula."

On whether there were specific world events or incidents that influenced the lyrical themes covered on "Dystopia":

Mustaine: "I think you could dissect that question. Things going on in the world influence my lyrics, but it's not just right now, what's contemporary. It's something that has laid itself out and is the way of the world, and has been for a very long time. I like to watch the news. I love world history, especially American history. I like reading autobiographies of world leaders, great warriors and things like that. When you look at a lot of the lyrics on this record, it's not really that much different than any of the other records; it's just the climate. I've always written about politics, war, drugs, relationships, a little bit of the occult. I think dabbling in the occult, since I did get into that, it's a little bit more, like… I don't really wanna go there. As bittersweet as this is, heavy metal music is really popular and successful when the world is under a lot of stress. And society, when it starts to eat itself, I think a lot of people turn to more aggressive music. And I found that people, when they listen to music, they kind of gravitate more towards real lyrics instead of fantasy stuff. 'Cause I've always loved stuff like Ronnie James Dio's lyrics and so on and so forth. But with all of the mythology and the medieval stuff, to me, I can't really write from that position very much, so I tend to write more about current events."

Due on January 22, 2016, the follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider" was recorded last year in Nashville, Tennessee and was produced by MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. The CD was mixed by Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with LAMB OF GOD, ALL THAT REMAINS and GOJIRA.

German metallers MOB RULES will release their eighth album, "Tales From Beyond", on March 18 via Steamhammer/SPV as a digipak (including one bonus track and poster), double colored vinyl LP and as a digital download. In addition, there will be an iTunes version including an additional exclusive bonus track called "Ghost Town".

According to a press release, "Tales From Beyond" "impresses with a deeply melodic mix of progressive and power metal. When it comes to their lyrics, MOB RULES continue to go their own unmistakable path, influenced by historic events and inspired by literature. Their powerful songs and haunting chorus parts have earned MOB RULES an excellent reputation over the past two decades both in their native country and abroad. Their anniversary boxed set 'Timekeeper', which arrived at the stores in October 2014, has been incontestable proof of the complexity and uniqueness of their material. 'Tales From Beyond' sees an evolvement of the band’s earthy and multi-faceted sound while the Celtic/British influences of their music have been honed even more finely. The current album is marked by a 'new directness' which not only goes down well with MOB RULES's own fans but will also win the group many a new metal fan. This applies all the more as MOB RULES entrusted the production of 'Tales From Beyond' again to the tried and tested hands of sound engineer Markus Teske (VANDEN PLAS, FIREWIND)." "Tales From Beyond" track listing:

01. Dykemaster's Tale02. Somerled03. Signs04. On The Edge05. My Kingdom Come06. The Healer07. Dust Of Vengeance08. A Tale From Beyond (Part 1: Through The Eye Of The Storm)09. A Tale From Beyond (Part 2: A Mirror Inside)10. A Tale From Beyond (Part 3: Science Save Me!)11. Outer Space (digipak bonus track)

April 2016 will see MOB RULES join Axel Rudi Pell as special guests on his extensive tour, presenting the songs from "Tales From Beyond" live for the first time.

Chris Holmes says that Lemmy once told him he would never play in a band with the former W.A.S.P. guitarist because Holmes would "overshadow him" on stage. Speaking to Johan Jakobsson of the Swedish newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning, Holmes recalled a conversation he had with the MOTÖRHEAD mainman in the 1990s. He said: "[Guitarists] Würzel [Michael Burston] and Phil [Campbell] were in MOTÖRHEAD then, so I went, 'Throw Würzel or Phil out and let me be in your band!' [Lemmy] looks at me and says, 'Chris, are you serious? I wouldn't play with you for a second.' I got so mad and said, 'I'm easy on the road.' Lemmy looks at me again and says, 'It's not about what you're like on the road. It's about what you're doing on stage.' Then I got even madder, and he goes, 'Let's say, for instance, that I was in the middle of a verse. You would probably be standing right in front of me.' I thought about it, and he was absolutely right. Especially if he told me not to do that, I'd have to do it just to piss him off. What he meant was, of course, that he didn't want me overshadowing him. It didn't bum me out, though. Everybody's different, and their personality really comes out on stage. The people in the real bands are like that."

Holmes, who was close friends with Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor in the years prior to the former MOTÖRHEAD drummer's death, went on to claim that Lemmy and Taylor's relationship took a turn for the worse when the MOTÖRHEAD frontman refused to entertain an offer for a tour featuring the band's original lineup. Chris said: "Lemmy was cool. But Phil and Lemmy, the last years, they weren't really close. If they were, Phil would have been in the [acclaimed documentary] 'Lemmy'. But if you noticed, he wasn't. I know why. The reason why Phil was bitter was because a few years ago, somebody had offered 'Fast' Eddie [Clarke, MOTÖRHEAD guitarist during 1976-1982), Lemmy and Phil to do a tour for about six months, and Lemmy wouldn't do it. That's why Phil didn't do the movie, and I know that for a fact."

He continued: "It's sad. Lemmy died of cancer, right? When I was at Phil's funeral, Lemmy wasn't there. 'Fast' Eddie was there. He and I and some other people carried Phil's coffin. Someone at the funeral had seen MOTÖRHEAD live a week earlier, and Lemmy did not look good. If he didn't know he had cancer by then, something was wrong. I don't think he would have been able to carry the coffin. They say he didn't know he had cancer. How do you get that sick and don't know?"

Holmes added: "Too bad [Lemmy] didn't die on stage. That's probably where he would have wanted to die. Like [late PANTERA guitarist] Dimebag."

Holmes in 2013 released a solo album called "Nothing To Lose". Chris composed, performed, and produced the music and vocals, and teamed up with Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor to perform on and engineer the effort.

Holmes's latest effort, "Shitting Bricks", was released last year via M & O Music.

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1982 and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996, Holmes rejoined W.A.S.P. and stayed with the band until 2001. Holmes has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

Today (Saturday, January 9th), the world came together to celebrate the life of Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

With almost almost 300,000 watching on YouTube and millions more thinking about a man that changed the face of heavy metal. And what a face … an image. An icon. Kinda like James Dean … but for us metalheads, much more of presence in life. Manager Todd Singerman led the ceremony: “Man, I hate using these words in past tense!”

He proceeded to pass the mic to Lemmy’s son Paul: “He had a feeling something was wrong in August. We will know the pain he was in … all of his years he was a stage warrior. Having moved mount everest, the show would go on. He wasn’t just a musician and songwriter … he was a figurehead. He set the bar. It was about keeping it real. Performing was everything to him. He was Lemmy all the time. He wasn’t a poseur. He paid his his dues. Motörhead’s last album was a struggle … it never revealed his frailed health. Born to lose, live to win. He wasn’t religious, but he was profoundly spiritual. He never tolerated anybody talking over music … especially his! Music wasn’t a background to him. Nobody on this earth posed his brand of of humour. He was 100% real. I won the lottery when I got Lemmy. You were perfect. You are on the road to the great great gig in the sky.”

The elite of heavy metal praised the man, the legend, the icon.

Guns N' Roses Slash: “Lemmy was somebody that I feel blessed to be friends with. He was such a a fucking great example of what my peers wanted to be. More integrity than anybody. 100 loyal. All these fine attributes. When I got sober he was so disappointed when I didn’t greet him with a flask of Jack Daniels!”

Judas Priest's Rob Halford: “Over the years we’ve had some amazing times. We always looked forward to seeing the lads! When I was in the the presence of lord Lemmy. I was overwhelmed! As we know, the music lives forever!”

Anthrax' Scott Ian : “Elvis you taught us how to dress, how to look. It was Carl Perkins and Little Richard how to sound. And it was The Beatles who taught us we could to write our own songs. And Lemmy it was you who taught us that we could be fucking real.”

Metallica's Lars Ulrich: “I lived and breathed every note they sang! Lemmy was so hospitable and the ultimate party host. I’ve always cited Motorhead and Lemmy as in the inspiration and the primary reason Metallica exists musically and attitude wise. So thank you Lemmy for shaping who I am today.

Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl: “There is not enough time to tell you what Lemmy meant to me. He’s my person … he’s the one that bridged my love of ACDC and Sabbath and Zeppelin … and my love with GBH, the Ramones and Black Flag.

Lemmy Kilmister died on December 28th at the age of 70 following a brief battle with an aggressive cancer.

Check out the BraveWords tribute to Lemmy here.



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Exes For Eyes / former Endast vocalist Big James Arsenian has checked in with the following update:

"Here's the second Cheeto Dust video, 'Power Of Poutine', featuring Angela Solo on vocals (and in the video). Big thanks to Whats Hal Building In There, Jordan Perry, Alex Cogdell, Angela Boismenu for being in the video and helping me record this ridiculous song. Special thanks to Adam Reider for directing the fuck out of this video. Cheeto Dust is my excuse to act a fool in public (like I needed an excuse) and I appreciate the support!"

For those that question Arsenian's metal roots after experiencing the work of art above:

Arsenian recently posted the following message in the wake of the horrifying terrorist attacks in Paris last November:

"Being a touring musician is an interesting thing. You sacrifice a lot to keep doing this and you put yourself in unique and interesting positions. Maybe you find yourself in the middle of a terrorist attack in a foreign country like my older brother did today. Maybe you find yourself stuck in traffic far away from your family while your older brother is stuck in the middle of a terrorist attack like I did today. Thankfully, he is ok. Thankfully I have an incredible network of friends across the globe (friends I wouldn't have if I wasn't a musician) who straight up went out of their way to offer assistance to my brother who was in harm's way.

Fuck terrorism. Fuck anyone who would see us live in fear. We keep doing this, you keep supporting and the world will continue to be a good place."



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Mexican Ape-Lord - featuring Meliah Rage founding guitarist Anthony Nichols and The Bags’ vocalist/bassist Jon Hardy – have released a lyric video for “Rat King”, taken from their 2014 debut album, The Late Heavy Bombardment. 

Mexican Ape-Lord is working on a new album, slated for a summer release. An update from the band from November 22, 2015 reads:

“We had a great session this past Thursday at Band-A-Song Studios in Gloucester, MA with engineer Warren Babson. At this point all the music has been written and arranged while front man Jon Hardy continues to make progress on the lyrics. All of Steve's (Fry) drum tracks have been completed while Dan Dykes heads back to his Florida home to work on leads. The record is going to be mixed by the masterful Peter Rutcho and a late 2016 summer release is projected.



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German epic melodic metal band Human Fortress delivers another strong album, titled Thieves Of The Night, on March 18. Two years after the group had returned to the style of their successful first releases from the early 2000’s with Raided Land – and also introduced new vocalist Gus Monsanto (ex-Timo Tolkki’s Revolution Renaissance, ex-Adagio) - Human Fortress continue right where they left off. 

Songs such as the catchy title track, power metal hymns (“Rise Or Fall”, “Vicious Circle”) or the slightly modern - but not less epic- “Thrice Blessed” will amaze every fan of the Hannover-based band. But Thieves Of The Night additionally could appeal very well to worshippers of Virgin Steele’s ‘80s/’90s classic releases, Kamelot and Avantasia.

Tracklisting:

“Amberstow”
“Last Prayer To The Lord”
“Rise Or Fall”
“Thieves Of The Night”
“Thrice Blessed”
“Hellrider”
“Just A Graze”
“Vicious Circle”
“Smite On The Anvil”
“Dungeons Of Doom”
“Gift Of Prophecy”
“Alone”



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Finnish melodic power metal masters Thunderstone, who were rejoined by original vocalist Pasi Rantanen in 2013, have signed a worldwide deal (excluding Finland and Japan) with AFM Records.

The band's upcoming new album Apocalypse Again will be released on April 1. Apocalypse Again will be Thunderstone’s first album in 7 years. Their last release was Dirt Metal, released in 2009 via Sony Music. 



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Infamous extreme metal unit, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, have shared "Deathbed," the second track from the band's forthcoming new EP Arc.

Simply titled Arc, the over 25 minute long sludge-fueled feast finds Agoraphobic Nosebleed sounding heavier, doomier and more destructive than ever before. Believe it. Each EP in the series will represent the musical influences and tastes of each member. Details on the others will be revealed at a later date. Arc will be officially unveiled on January 22nd. 

Arc tracklisting:

“Not A Daughter”
“Deathbed”
“Gnaw”

"Deathbed":

“Not A Daughter”:

Trailer:

In related news and in conjunction with the release of Arc, both Agoraphobic Nosebleed's Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope and Altered States Of America full-lengths will be available on vinyl for the first time in over a decade.
 
Sample the trailer below:

An overwhelming, concentrated outpouring of perceptual stimuli, Agoraphobic Nosebleed's second full-length, the 2002-issued Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope, referenced the glory days of early '00s grindcore while disregarding the genre's current ideals, becoming one of the most talked-about grindcore records in recent history. The album and band were featured in numerous high-profile media outlets. Perhaps Frozen Corpse's best description came from vocalist J. Randall who surmised, "Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope is like ripping through back catalog Earache blastbeat shit armed with a submachine gun at 400 rounds per minute."
 
While the fires left burning in Frozen Corpse's wake were still smoldering, Agoraphobic set to work on a concept so bizarre, no one would believe it. With a focused mindset, and a plethora of mind-confounding ideas, the band wrote and recorded Altered States Of America, a 100-track three-CD set. Initially released on April Fools Day, 2003, Altered States Of America delivered the most ambitious Agoraphobic Nosebleed yet: completely inhuman music with a consummate disregard for its listener. Round after round, clip after clip, Agoraphobic Nosebleed unloaded an arsenal of stupefying guitar work, experimental noise and drum machine-gun blast beats while swarming vocalists hatefully taunted the listener into the crossfire. Initially released as a 10", Altered States Of America will receive the 12" treatment for the first time ever.
 
Arc, along with the vinyl editions of Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope and Altered States Of America, will be available on January 22nd. Physical preorders are available now here. Desirers of the digitals, head here.

(Photo by: Josh Sisk)

 



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Canadian grindcore legends Fuck The Facts have released the video for “Everywhere Yet Nowhere” in support of their latest album Desire Will Rot released August 2015 via their indie label Noise Salvation. The video was created by David Hall of Uneasy Sleeper and Handshake Inc. whom is also known for films such as Maryland Deathfest: The Movie (parts 1, 2 and 3), Today Is The Day, Axis of Eden: The Film, Disgorge Mexico: The Movie (Fuck The Facts), There's Bound to Be: Phil Anselmo and The Illegals, Live at The Opera House, When the Screams Come: Pentagram Live at Maryland Deathfest and Decibel's 100th Issue Show: The Movie.

Desire Will Rot was recorded and mixed by FTF guitarist Topon Das at his Apartment 2 studio in Ottawa, ON and features eleven aggressive tracks of the band's metal mastery to follow their recent split EP with Fistfuck along with 2014's Abandoned and 2013's Amer EPs plus it being their first full length since 2011's Die Miserable.

Upcoming show dates:

January
15 – Toronto, ON – Coalition
16 – Peterborough, ON – The Spill

February
5 – North Bay, ON – The Fraser Tavern
6 – Rouyn Noranda, QC – La Scène Évolu-Son

(Photo by: Dave Levitt)



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Myrath return with a new album of their special brand of Oriental metal. After many shows in many countries and over 4 long years since their last album, they're back with a new collection of great tracks simply titled Legacy being released on Nightmare / Sony/ RED to North America on February 12.

Myrath is a Franco-Tunisian metal band, yet in just a few years they’ve become a very enjoyed and respected band by the international prog-power community. Their new album Legacy promises to rocket the band higher yet, with both European and North American tour plans and their most exciting album to date.

Tracklisting:

“Jasmin”
“Believer”
“Get Your Freedom Back”
“Nobody’s Lives”
“The Needle”
“Through Your Eyes”
“The Unburnt”
“I Want To Die”
“Duat”
“Endure The Silence”
“Storm Of Lies”
“Other Side” (North American bonus track)



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BraveWords has teamed with Kelowna, BC’s leading death metal architects Gomorrah for the full album stream of The Haruspex, due out January 15 via Test Your Metal Records to follow-up their 2013 debut Perception, available for preorder here.

"Jeff Bryan and I recorded the album at my home here in the Okanagan Valley, and we did the absolute majority of the writing in the pre-production and production stages. So much of the material had existed from several years ago, but was completely overhauled and reworked several times to end up in these tracks. We weren't afraid to try things out and work over several revisions, or to take our hands off of a few of the songs that we felt very comfortable with after only the first revision. Jeff wrote the lyrics for the tracks in less than two months, and a lot of them were written and finalized in the vocal tracking stage, in front of the microphone. We weren't afraid to enable our music with production techniques. Many reviews have figured that we used samples or synthesizers in the songs, however the reality is that all of these droning noises, stutters, and otherwise 'industrial' sounds are actually either electric guitar or bass guitar, and abusing these instruments in front of their amplifiers with only two guitar effect pedals. The rest of these noises you hear are the interaction with the instrument and their environment.

“We then delivered all of the tracks to Stuart McKillop of Rain City Recorders for mixing, and he blew us away. It didn't take him long at all to catch onto what we were going for, and his consistency from one track to the next brought the tracks to the highest musical apex they could reach. Brad Boatright of Audiosiege handled the mastering, and he made certain that the product was of the outstanding final production quality for us. Brad has really yielded an outstanding quality for so many other abrasive sub-genres of metal and hardcore and he delivered that exact pinnacle of quality for us on this record as well." - Bowen Matheson

The Haruspex tracklisting:

“Imperial”
“Nine Kings Of Sulphur”
“Carcosa”
“Dismantling The Throne”
“Sitra Achra”
“Crowns Of Flesh”
“Cerulean”
“Venom And Rapture”
“Architects”
“The Mark Of Veritas”

 

 

 

 



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Mortiis has released a new video for “The Shining Lamp Of God”. "The Shining Lamp Of God" continues the story that "Doppelganger", released late last year, started. "We made two videos, although they were shot as one," Mortiis said. ""The Shining Lamp of God' is another chapter - same place, same hellhole, just escalated, I suppose. It never really ends…"

Directed by Robyn Van Swank and Nick Plotquin, “The Shining Lamp Of God” is equally rife with graphic images, bringing to life the internal struggles and demons that the song’s lyrics tackle. Whereas “Doppleganger” was conflicted and self-loathing, “The Shining Lamp Of God” metaphorically uses religious symbolism to convey an inner anger toward others’ selfishness so deep that one fails to see their own ego centrist behaviors.
 
Chilling images of physical torture perfectly encapsulate the mental anguish of Mortiis’ music – an incredible fete based on the depth of mental and emotional agony of the lyrics on Mortiis’ album, The Great Deceiver.
 
The disturbing clip leaves lasting impression – which was Mortiis’ goal after years of feeling controlled and confined by the restrictions of a record label. “The old label is history, the shackles are off, and I decided to just sell my record collection in order to finance some videos that we, and nobody else, actually have any control over,” he said. “We pretty much used to be hogtied down in terms of what we were allowed to do and not to do in our videos. I always thought that was ridiculous, like we were some sort of pop band. Ever since that time, I swore I would one day control how my music was used, and if I wanted to show someone getting injected with sewer water, I would.”
 
The new Mortiis album The Great Deceiver will be out March 4 worldwide.

“Doppelganger” video:



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Swedish classic/doom rock masters, Witchcraft, will release their new album, Nucleus, on January 15th release worldwide via Nuclear Blast. The album will be available as CD, lavish digipak (also as a t-shirt bundle), vinyl (black, clear, splatter, gold) and digital download. The band is streaming audio snippets of every album track, which can be checked out below.

Nucleus:

“Malstroem”
“Theory Of Consequence”
“The Outcast”
“Nucleus”
“An Exorcism Of Doubts”
“The Obsessed”
“To Transcend Bitterness”
“Helpless”
“Breakdown”

Limited digipak CD & 2LP vinyl bonus track:
“Chasing Rainbows”

Audio snippets:

"Theory Of Consequence":

“The Outcast”:

Nucleus, the successor of 2012's Legend, is said to be mixing the rawer side of Witchcraft’s early roots with a slightly more melancholic modern sound.

With an all new lineup (Rage Widerberg on drums and Tobias Anger on bass) the band sounds more hungry and powerful than ever before. In combination with the thrilling, yet very down-to-earth production by Pelander himself, Philip Gabriel Saxin and Anton Sundell it just throws you in dreamy sonic landscapes that will mesmerize and haunt you alike.



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A new year, and a new tour for UK death metallers Aghast! But not only that, the London outfit have also announced the release of a new EP and follow up to last year’s debut album All The Rage.

Drummer Nick Plews comments, "It’s been a little over a year since we released All The Rage and we wanted to follow it up with something that shows what we’re about now. Feeding straight off the energy we got putting that release out, we have written some new songs that show a turning point in our sound. The Something Else; Something Rotten EP is a definite step up in terms of song writing and we can’t wait to share it with everyone. People can get their first chance to hear live on the 'Something Rotten Tour' this February, so be prepared!"

Details about the Something Else; Something Rotten EP, including a release date are as of yet to be announced.

UK tour dates:

February
13 – Southampton, UK – Firehouse
14 – Bristol, UK – Gryphon
17 – Birmingham, UK – Scruffy Murphys
18 – Swansea, UK – Lemon Factory
19 – Kettering, UK – Prince Of Wales
20 – Luton, UK – Castle Tavern
21 – Camden, UK – Black Heart 



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On Friday, January 8, John Doan of MusicFrenzy.net conducted an interview with ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante. You can now listen to the chat at this location .

Speaking about the way social media has affected the way bands gauge the fan response to their music, Benante said: "What I find nowadays, because of a little thing on the Internet called comments that people feel that they could comment on anything, and they've become critics, with no experience whatsoever, and all of a sudden it's out there."

He continued: "I was just seeing something about… TOOL were playing last night in San Francisco, and I just saw some thing for a little newsblurb, and then I made the mistake of just scrolling down and seeing comments, and [it was] just fucking negativity like you wouldn't believe. 'Fuck these guys! How could they play the same…?' It's, like, 'Jesus Christ, man!'

"These are the people who will never do anything, musically in their life, or whatever. And they just feel the need that… 'I need to voice my opinion about this, how much I fucking hate this.' And it's just like… I just wish… Like I said one time, I wish we could reverse it, and some of us can go to their place, where they work, and let's just get a group of people and just comment on their fucking day."

Benante went on to say: "It just bothers me, because no one knows the work or time, effort and just everything that goes into making something. It's, like, I don't take this lightly whatsoever, and it really bothers me when I have to hear or I have to see… That's why I don't read comments, really — 'cause I don't dig it. I don't care if it's a great comment, I don't care if it's a bad comment. I try to avoid all of them, because… You know, at the end of the day, we do our best at what we do, and when you read something that says, 'Ehh, I'm not feeling it.' It's, like, 'Okay. What else could we have done to make you 'feel' it?' You know?"

ANTHRAX's long-awaited new album, "For All Kings", which will be released on February 26, 2016 via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Megaforce in the U.S.

Original DEEP PURPLE bassist has told U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine that it's "strange" he isn't being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame alongside his former bandmates.

DEEP PURPLE — which has been eligible for induction into the Rock Hall for two decades now — will finally enter the Rock Hall as part of the class of 2016. Most of the members of the band's first three lineups are being inducted, including drummer Ian Paice, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, late keyboardist Jon Lord, and various singers and bassists — Rod Evans; Ian Gillan and Roger Glover; and David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

Simper said: "The first I knew about the Hall Of Fame induction was when I read about it and fans were complaining that I wasn't being inducted.

"Maybe I am being naive, but I always thought that if a band gets into the Hall Of Fame, then all members, past and present, are part of it. Obviously not.

"Yes, it is a little strange that I am only only one from Marks I, II and III being left out, but I shan't lose any sleep over this. It's not as if I need to be given this award to know what we did in DEEP PURPLE made an impact. And I'm sure it wasn't a decision that came from the band.'

Simper added that there is no bad blood between him and the other members of the original DEEP PURPLE. He said: "I was in regular contact with Jon Lord before he died, and Ian Paice is always sending his best wishes through mutual friends like Bernie Marsden. And I have also toured with Don Airey, with whom I get on well."

DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan recently slammed as "very silly" the Rock Hall's decision to exclude guitarist Steve Morse and keyboardist Don Airey from the band's upcoming induction.

Morse has been part of PURPLE since 1994, while Airey replaced Jon Lord in 2001.

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley (IRON MAIDEN, WOLFSBANE) will release his eighth solo album, "Infinite Entanglement", on March 1, 2016. The first trailer for the CD has just been released and can be seen below.

Speaking to Rock-Radio UK in November, Bayley stated about the upcoming effort: "It's a concept album. My first solo album was influenced by science fiction and a lot of my favorite books and also things that are happening in science fiction and artificial intelligence — with 'Silicon Messiah'; that was my first one. And then I did a full concept album with my second solo album called 'Tenth Dimension'. This follows on, really, from both of those albums, some of the ideas that I had back then, as well as some of the things that are happening in quantum physics; I've become more interested in that. So, using that, really, it's a story about someone who doesn't know if they're human. And I'm writing a book, and the album is based on the things that happen in the book."

He added: "All the fans that I've spoke to and told them about the concept and the idea, they all seem really into it. So I'm very excited."

Regarding the musical direction of his upcoming disc, Blaze said: "I'm not really limiting myself on this album. So there are elements of music that are the same as my first two solo albums, and also of my last album, and of my acoustic album."

He continued: "We've got most of the album finished. I've still got some lyrics that I've left open, but most of it's finished. And now it's listening through to these demos from rehearsals and going through those lyrics and checking them and making sure that they're not embarrassing, and all of that, and then we start recording on the 1st of December."

Bayley also talked about how he is getting his hardcore fans involved in the making of his new album. He said: "I had an idea for a song. Because it's a concept, there's a certain part of the story where my central character is in a dream, and he doesn't quite know what he's hearing. And it's messages from his past, and it's people saying, 'Where are you?' And so, I thought, well, what I wanted was, not just in English, but in different languages, I wanted this phrase: 'Where are you?' And I thought it might be something that I could involve my fans in, 'cause I need about a hundred people saying 'Where are you?' at different times to create this kind of dream, almost nightmare, and it's an intro to one of the songs on the album. So what I've asked people to do is say the phrase, and I've put a demo of the phrase and a couple of different people saying it, so they know the kind of cadence to use. And they say it in their own language, and then they send me the sample. And the best ones then I'll use in the song on the album. Someone would have to do it, so I thought, 'Well, why not get my fans who actually support me to do it?'"

The 52-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left in 1994 to join MAIDEN, with whom he recorded two studio albums — 1995's "The X Factor" 1998's and "Virtual XI" — before Bruce Dickinson returned to the group.

Bayley released a career-spanning double-disc collection, "Soundtracks Of My Life", on October 31, 2013.

The singer's latest studio album, "The King Of Metal", was issued in March 2012.

Finnish gothic metallers THE 69 EYES will release their eleventh album, "Universal Monsters", on April 22 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded with producer Johnny Lee Michaels at his Helsinki-based Bat Cave Studios.

The first single from "Universal Monsters", a song called "Jet Fighter Plane", will be released on January 15. The accompanying music video was directed by Ville Juurikkala, who has previously worked with NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS and MICHAEL MONROE. Juurikkala also created the "Universal Monsters" cover artwork, which portrays THE 69 EYES members in movie monster lighting, showing them as classic and timeless creatures.

Says THE 69 EYES vocalist Jyrki: "The covers are planned and designed as an old-school CD covers. Remember when the booklets used to be as exciting as the album itself?! It will actually have five different covers being such a folder — each member of the band can be used as a cover creature of their own.

"Ville has really succeeded in capturing the classic movie vibe for the shots without any special make-up or photo shopping.

"THE 69 EYES are the universal rock 'n' roll monsters — not so many of us left anymore. So from real fans, I wish they would get the actual CD in their hands to get the full album treatment as we have planned it to be experienced!"

"Universal Monsters" track listing:

01. Dolce Vita02. Jet Fighter Plane03. Blackbird Pie04. Lady Darkness05. Stiv & Johnny06. Never07. Miss Pastis08. Jerusalem09. Shallow Graves10. Rock 'N' Roll Junkie11. Blue

The first making-of "Universal Monsters" teaser trailer takes fans into the beginning of the album's recording sessions with producer Johnny Lee Michaels and drummer Jussi 69 in nighttime Helsinki.

Regarding "Jet Fighter Plane", Jyrki said: "The song has a dark early '80s kind of vibe. I wrote the lyrics those Cold War-era times in my mind. Strangely, the world has totally returned into those dark days again after recording the song."

He added: "It's been some 15 years since we recorded 'Blessed Be' and 'Paris Kills' albums with producer Johnny Lee Michaels here in Helsinki. You can consider 'Universal Monsters' as a follow-up to those records. Nobody makes this kind of music anymore."

Video footage of new EVANESCENCE guitarist Jen Majura (EQUIBLIBRIUM, KNORKATOR) playing the band's song "Call Me When You're Sober" can be seen below.

Majura recently told EMP Rock Invasion about how she landed the EVANESCENCE gig: "I have no idea. [Laughs] No, seriously… My name was somehow recommended by a sweet friend of mine, Alex Skolnick of TESTAMENT, and Dave Eggar — he's also known as a very good cellist, and he's a musician working in New York. And all of a sudden, there was this e-mail popping up: 'Are you interested in joining…?' And I was, like, 'What the fuck?' So I stopped breathing until my face turned kind of blue. And then afterwards, I was, like, 'Okay, I've gotta read it again.' Three days later, I found myself suddenly on an airplane, flying over to New York to meet Amy Lee. And we had some very, very cool talks. She's an awesome person. She's a very, very great musician. And so I found myself suddenly inside of his empire called EVANESCENCE."

Regarding the fact that she didn't even have to "audition" for EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Yeah. To be honest, I was kind of concerned. I told [Amy], 'Do you want me to bring my guitar?' And, 'Would you like me to audition?' And she was totally, like: 'Nah, I know you can play. I've seen plenty of videos of you. And I know your live experience and you're touring the world, so… No, just come over and let's have some food and talk.' Yeah, and that's it. So, actually, what I was surprised by very, very much was that she actually had another guitar player on her list, and that was the guitar player of Alice Cooper [Nita Strauss]. And she's now with Alice Cooper and I'm now with EVANESCENCE. This is, like… I still can't believe it."

On the topic of how her life has changed since it was announced that she was joining EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Well, I have to say, it became official the 7th of August. I have to say, in that moment when it went online, I was in Sweden for a guitar camp. It was in the middle of nowhere; there was nothing but a lake and thirty guitar players. And suddenly, all of a sudden, my phone kept [lighting up with message notifications]. I was, like, 'Okay, maybe it's official now.' What happened is that I received tons of e-mails every day; it was insane. It became okay in the meantime, but in the very first days, it was, like, between 1,200 and 1,500 e-mails every day. And, of course, a lot of people [congratulated me], and this is very sweet. I would like to say now, thank you to all of my colleagues and friends and partners in business and everybody who just [congratulated] me on that. It was like having a birthday or something."

EVANESCENCE re-emerged after a three-year hiatus with select, intimate shows in November in Nashville, Dallas and Los Angeles. The influential, Grammy-winning band also played at Ozzfest Japan, the first major international music festival to ever travel to Japan.

"Hair I Go Again", a documentary about the determination and failures of a former hair band chasing its dreams, will be released worldwide on March 10.

The three-minute opening sequence from the film can be seen below.

The year was 1985. Thousands of miles away from the sonic debauchery of the Sunset Strip, two teenage friends shared aspirations of glam rock grandeur. Freshly permed and taking a page straight out of Hit Parader, a hungry, determined band was born. Fame and fortune, however, remained out of reach and the group unceremoniously imploded... probably over some chick.

Fast forward thirty years. Facing a mid-life crossroads, Kyle Kruger and Steve McClure set out on an improbable journey in order to fulfill their dreams of achieving rock and roll stardom. With credit cards maxed out and the 401k cashed in, the pair risk everything in hopes of reclaiming the magic they had as a band over a quarter century ago.

It's a story about a lifelong friendship, insurmountable odds and dealing with the always present thought of "what if." It's a tale of rediscovery, determination, triumphs and failures.

Because first and last chances happen only once.

Featuring candid interviews with some of the most influential musicians and industry professionals in the business, including Eddie Trunk ("That Metal Show"), Jeff Keith and Frank Hannon (TESLA), Ron Keel (KEEL), Steve Blaze (LILLIAN AXE), Frank Bello and Joey Belladonna (ANTHRAX), Les Warner (THE CULT), as well as members of KIX, STRYPER, QUEENSRŸCHE, QUIET RIOT, WARRANT, MOTÖRHEAD, L.A. GUNS and more.